Down another rabbit hole …

or that’s what it feels like. An iPad has been added to the toy box, and I’ve been playing … er, figuring it out. I’m trying not to go too nutz with the apps, but there certainly are a lot of them out there!

One decidedly good find was Pepperplate, a free app that looks like the much-needed solution to multiple paper-piles of collected recipes. It works on the iPad and also on the PC, and makes it so easy to import recipes, and then see what I’ve got.

I tried this Potato Casserole from Ciao Italia the other day, and it’s already been added to my recipes, along with a note about adding onions to it

I’ve been busy with stealth knitting (deadline is looming) but will have to wait to share that.

The weather’s been on a real roller coaster, but it’s been cold enough that the birds flock to the feeders and the water, including multiple bluebirds on several mornings.

For the birds

This has been a good week for birds so far. Early Sunday there were at least a half dozen bluebirds on the water dish (I didn’t get any photos of them) and today there was a flock of robins. Some were perched up high where the sun was hitting and others were having a drink.

Sunning.

The watering hole.

Having water available draws a wider variety of birds than just the ones that come to the seed feeders.

I wish you …

a very

Winding down …

from the holidays. Christmas Day was pretty quiet with just the 2 of us, but family started arriving on Monday, and by Tuesday, we had 10 more people and 2 more dogs, so the house was pretty full.

Elves distributing presents.

Toby was delighted to have more laps available

Some of the guys hanging out.

Son-in-law Mike is the family Grill Meister, and he did a wonderful job on steaks for the main dinner. I wish I’d taken a photo of all the electronics lined up on the kitchen island – the count was amazing!

Last minute photo shoot – the whole mob.

Hard to believe that 2011′s almost over. Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas!

A couple of bits of history here. If the dates on the photos are right (there’s a ? on both), I must have been about 4, and you can see that books were already in the picture

It's still not Christmas without at least 1 book!

It will just be the 2 of us for Christmas Day, but then Monday, we’ll be getting lots of company, including 5 of 6 grandkids. We’ll be making Candy Pie (aka Peppermint Fudge Pie) on Monday or Tuesday – it’s become a tradition around here. I first found the recipe in a leaflet from Kraft Foods years ago; the only difference from the recipe above is that it specifically calls for crushed Oreo cookies (filling and all) for the crust. I imagine the kids will get a kick out of crushing the candy canes

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday – see you after Christmas!

Joyknits 2011 in Review – Pt. 2

July

Steamy … in the extreme here! Temperatures in the upper 90′s sure make staying inside to knit all the more appealing.

One of the last pieces of the construction – nice to have storage by the washer!

August

Catching up … or at least trying to! It was great to see everyone, and lots of great ideas were flying around at Knitting Camp.

Knitting Camp: Meg Swansen.

I couldn’t pick just 1 photo this month

Lace Cardi & Cowl: VK Fall 2011 :^)

September

One of my travel souvenirs this summer was a Crazy Zauberball (Schoppel Woole; 75% wool/25% nylon in sock weight – German color name is Indisch Rosa, which I think is Indian pink) and it eventually suggested that it wanted to be a scarf/shawl.

New cat perch.

October

There was some frost in the area over the weekend. Since our tomatoes got a late start, and currently have quite a few nice green ones, I wanted to try to save them.

November

I’ve been working on patterns, and finally got this beaded bag ready to put up at Patternfish.

11/25/2011.

December

The day after Thanksgiving … … and we were still eating, so after doing a little bit of decorating, we took off for the Park and some fresh air.

New ornament.

This says it pretty well—overall a good year, even though there have been some bumps along the way.

Joyknits 2011 in Review – Pt. 1

I love Vicki’s Year in Review idea (first sentence of the first post of each month, plus a favorite photo), so thought I’d try it too. When the photo isn’t from the same post, it does create some really odd disconnects

January

We took our usual Christmas trip to Kansas City to visit our daughters and their families and had a great time.

Sausage soup - great for cold weather!

ETA: Link to soup recipe here!

February

The Blizzard of 2011 has been THE news for the last several days; whether or not it lives up to its advance billing remains to be seen, but at least it sounds like a lot of folks have taken it seriously and prepared to hunker down for a while.

Ready for my close up ...

March

This pair of socks is coming along very quickly—I already have several inches of the 2nd cuff completed.

April

I finished spinning the BFL “Evil Jeanius” singles recently (24 oz). I still haven’t plied it yet …

Mary & Diane with Uncle George.

May

The florist’s van pulled into the driveway today and brought me this pretty planter:

My grandmother with Aunt Peg (l) and Mom (r) ca 1926.

June

Our oldest granddaughter, Samantha, was married last weekend [ETA: She just reminded me that the wedding was in May, even though I didn't post about it until June ]. Not that I’m prejudiced or anything but the bride was beautiful, the groom handsome, and everything was simply lovely!

Grandfather of the bride.

Good morning moon!

Last Saturday’s full moon is looking a bit smaller, but it was still beautiful this morning.

There’s still a baking frenzy – some samples:

Cranberry/orange/nut bread.

Dundee Cake.

The Dundee Cake (which is fruitcake) took what seemed like forever to bake – next time, I’ll split it up into more pans! The little cookbook was a long ago gift, and there are several favorite recipes in it.

Chocolate chip cookies.

And the inevitable result of all this …

And 1 more bit of decor … after several years of minimal decorating, I’m having a lot of fun this year.

The little tree.